Actress Charlize Theron is a mother to two adopted children. It’s something she had dreamed about ever since she was a little girl herself. Now the mother of two daughters, she is living her dream.
In an interview with Diane von Furstenberg on Furstenberg’s podcast, InCharge With DVF, Theron opened up about her decision to adopt children and what inspired her to do so. When she was just 8 years old, Theron had first talked about adoption in a letter she wrote to her mom.
As an only child, Theron told Furstenberg that when she was younger she asked her mom if they could go to an orphanage for Christmas and adopt a little brother or sister for her. It was a letter her mom gave her as she was adopting her first daughter 8-year-old, Jackson, in 2012.
“My mom, when I went through my first adoption, actually showed me the letter. I was connected to the idea of having a family through adoption when I was 8 years old. She’s like, ‘You never asked me to have another baby. You never asked me to have a little brother or sister for you. You just immediately went to adoption.’ […] But I always knew that I wanted to be a mother always.”
Then in 2015, she adopted her second daughter, 5-year-old August. As Theron continued, she told Furstenberg that there was great power in adopting her children, power in choosing to be a mom.
“That whole process was incredibly empowering for me as a woman,” the mom of two explained. “The fact that I got to choose when I wanted to be a mom. […] There is a great power in choosing when to be a mother. And then doing it when your body, your mind, and everything is celebrating all of that. And I know that this is what I can handle.”
And although she got to choose the precise moment she wanted to be a mom, Theron admitted that there was still a lot of surprises and unknowns along the way. And it was the lessons she learned from those unknowns that she’s very proud of.
As the actress explained, she didn’t know that she would one day be the mom to two African American girls. “I didn’t know I was going to be the mom to an African American trans girl. All of these things have kind of made me more aware of how little I know. My children have completely reopened my eyes to the world.” And that’s exactly how she wanted it.
And in the same podcast, Theron opened up about a recent lesson she got to teach her girls.
“Two days ago I was in the car with my two girls and my little one said something like ‘You need a boyfriend!’ And I said, ‘Actually, I don’t. Right now, I feel really good,’ and she’s like, ‘You know what, mom? You just need a boyfriend. you need a relationship!’ And I was like: ‘I am in a relationship. I’m in a relationship with myself right now.’ She had this look in her eye like she had never really contemplated that that was even a possibility. Her mind was blown. But, I know that was the day that she realized there’s a different possibility.”
What an important lesson to learn as little girls who will one day grow into strong women.
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